Authors: Allie Ritch
“You have no idea.” He rolled his eyes for emphasis.
That made her snicker some more, and something loosened inside him. This was why they’d been together this long. Whitt genuinely enjoyed being around her. Even when she left him aching with lust.
They talked about inconsequential things for another twenty minutes before disconnecting.
* * * *
She’d done it! Spri had stuck to the cardinal rule of dating—don’t call the other person repeatedly, especially after they sneak out of your bedroom—and it had paid off. She’d been so relieved Whitt had finally called her back that it was all she could do not to jump up and down like an overexcited toddler. Instead she’d just beamed at him through the screen, soaking in every detail from his navy-blue hair, striking features, and cerulean eyes to his dark jeans and the T-shirt he wore advertising one of the local techno bands.
The best part was that he’d agreed to join her at her meditation service this evening. As luck would have it, Jye was on duty again today, so maybe she could take Whitt aside to meet him too. Everything seemed to be working out.
Closing up the small home décor shop where she worked, Spri headed home to get ready. While she walked, she pulled out her palm unit and called her Sex Ed instructors. It was Quinn who answered.
She greeted him. “I just wanted to make sure you and Xindra got my message about next week’s class. I think it’s the perfect time for me to model. Will that work for you?”
“We were just about to call you about that,” Quinn said. “Next class is fine, but I take it you don’t have a bonded partner you can bring in?”
She shook her head.
“Hmm.” He sounded disappointed. “Litting intercourse is so unique. We were really hoping to get a full demonstration.”
That would never happen.
Spri tried to explain. “Most Littings will talk openly about sex if it’s discussed in a respectful manner, but the act itself is considered extremely private. I doubt you’ll ever find a pair willing to do a public demonstration. There’s a reason you’ve got a young Litting as a student. The older, more conservative members of my race would regard the modeling in your class as improper, if not blasphemous.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Really? Xindra and I did our research, but we didn’t realize it was taken that seriously.” He seemed to think for a minute before nodding. “That’s actually the perfect information to share. You could discuss the Litting point of view and your beliefs with the class.”
“I’d be happy to.” That was exactly what she wanted. “I also have no problem with full nudity, although I’m ambivalent about being touched. While I see the educational benefit from an anatomy-lesson standpoint, I’m not sure the other students will gain much from the experience at this point. Litting female physiology is nearly identical to that of New Earthlings, and we’ve already covered them.”
“That’s fine,” he agreed. “If you’re not sure, then I’d rather not push you into it. We’ll keep things completely hands off. After the basic anatomy lesson, we’ll concentrate more on the cultural significance of sex for your race and listen to any personal comments you’re willing to share.”
Spri was grateful for the accepting, no-pressure atmosphere he and Xindra had created. She thanked him before disconnecting and arrived at her door.
Once inside, she only just managed to shower and change before Whitt buzzed up from her apartment entrance. Excitement at seeing him again had her heart pattering in her chest, but she drew a deep breath to steady herself before she went down to meet him.
“Hey,” he said as she came out.
Slipping her arm around him, she gave him a long, sweet kiss hello. “Hey, yourself.”
His smile, always just a touch crooked, made her feel like she was glowing from the inside out. As they started to walk, he threw his arm around her and held her close enough that her hip occasionally bumped his thigh. He didn’t say anything until they’d covered a couple of blocks.
“So we’re going out to meditate.” There was a hint of amusement in his tone. “I have to say, that’s one thing I’ve never done with a woman.”
“Haven’t you heard? It’s the newest dating craze.”
He scoffed. “I don’t believe you.”
“Okay, you got me,” she said. “It’s bring-an-alien-sacrifice night. Be honest. Would you have come if I’d told you that up front?”
“Very funny.” He muttered it like he felt put-upon, but she could hear the laughter in his voice.
“Don’t worry,” she added more seriously. “You’ll like it. Or at least you won’t dislike it.”
He planted a kiss on the top of her head. “I’ll try anything at least once. If I wasn’t into new things, I never would have signed up for Quinn and Xindra’s class.”
“I thought you just wanted to watch people do it,” she said with a chuckle.
“That too.”
Her smile widened as they continued to the next block and opened the double doors to the center. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been surprised, but she paused for a second when she saw how many people were inside. The evening service was obviously much more popular, and they had to search for an open seat off to one side.
Once they’d settled down next to each other, Whitt leaned over to joke. “There’s something wrong with this bench. Some vandal has gone and stolen all the legs.”
“Shameless.” She responded with mock horror. Then she laughed. “Just make yourself comfortable. When you hear the first ding, close your eyes and inhale and exhale slowly in time to each subsequent chime. Keep breathing in silence until the final clang ends the communal meditation. That’s all there is to it.”
“No mantras, right? No statue groping? You promised.”
“Would I lie to you?”
He didn’t have time to retort as Jye took his position up front and signaled the start of the exercise. Closing her eyes, Spri relaxed her mind and was surprised to find her other senses abnormally amplified. Each peal was loud and clear, and the vibrations teased the hairs on the back of her neck. Next to her, Whitt’s body heat seeped into her side as if she were sitting next to a small fireplace. The fresh scent of his soap tickled her nose. When silence reigned, she became hyperaware of the two of them breathing in sync.
In, out; inhale, exhale. Their rhythm was slow and steady and perfectly matched to the point that she felt his lungs fill with air, his breath rush over her lips. His warmth and scent wrapped around her until her skin became flushed and sensitive and her lower body turned heavy with need. Never in her life had she felt such a sexual element while meditating.
The cadence of their breathing—the steady in and out—mimicked the thrust and retreat of leisurely lovemaking, causing Spri to moisten and blossom inside her panties. Was he feeling this too? Tension mounted, twisting and spiraling inside her until it was all she could do not to break pattern and pant in excitement. If this kept up, she might come. Already, she felt like she was almost there. Almost…almost…
Ding.
The ring of the tuning fork stalled her momentum. Withholding a groan of frustration, she opened her eyes and prayed her cheeks weren’t as rosy as they felt. Immediately, she glanced over at Whitt to see his reaction and went very still.
“I thought you said this was supposed to be relaxing.” Bending one leg, he winced as he tried to disguise the evident erection tenting his fly.
Still feeling hot and off-kilter, she mumbled. “Usually it is. This has never happened before.”
Swallowing hard, Spri kept her head down when Jye glanced out at the congregation. She certainly couldn’t go over and introduce Whitt to him now—not in this state. The two of them looked like they’d been making love instead of peacefully centering themselves.
“Let’s get out of here,” she whispered.
“You first.” He pointed toward his crotch. “Walk in front of me.”
For some reason, she had an irrepressible urge to giggle. She managed to turn it into a cough as she got up and led the way out. Perhaps a nice, vigorous walk to the restaurant would clear their minds and blow away the lust. If not, she had a feeling she’d be experimenting with more non-penetrating sexual acts tonight.
Chapter Ten
A Quick Study
Taking a big sip of his drink, Whitt ordered his libido to settle down and give him some breathing room. Of course, breathing was what had gotten him all riled up to begin with, so maybe that wasn’t the right idea. Gods, he’d never grown hard just sitting next to a woman before—well, except for that time in his freshman year when Vivia Rew wore that tiny skirt. It certainly hadn’t happened to him since he’d been a grown man. He needed a distraction.
“So tell me about your family.” He tried for innocuous date talk. “You’ve heard about mine, cousins and all, and I already know about your parents, but what about siblings? Extended family?”
There was a pause as the waiter of the hole-in-the-wall place they’d picked set their entrees in front of them.
“Mmm, smells good.” She picked up her fork. “There are a slew of cousins around here and on the home planet, but I only vaguely know their names. We’ve never met except at the one big family reunion my grandmother held before she passed. I have one brother and one sister. Min is still in school, but she’ll get her degree next year. She wants to be an architect. Ash is always traveling because of his consulting work, so I don’t get to see him as much as I’d like. We’re all close in our own way, but we also like to have our space and privacy.”
“I can understand that,” he said. “Allurians aren’t always big on privacy. We’re a shameless lot in general, and some members of my family don’t get that not everything is meant for public consumption.”
She returned a curious look. “For example?”
Stalling a minute while he swallowed, he shrugged. “Such as the time one of my uncles caught me at work and started talking to one of my clients. Somehow he got from the topic of first-time business ownership to a whole other kind of first time and decided to share how, when, and to whom I lost my virginity.”
She winced in sympathy. “That’s terrible. In my culture, that would be considered remarkably disrespectful.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t too happy about it. For that matter, neither was my client, who turned six shades of red and purple while I watched.”
Her snort of laughter was so unexpected it made something kick in his chest. “I can imagine. Would the little tale your uncle shared happen to be the same one you regaled our after-class group with? The one about an older woman jumping you?”
“That would be the one.” He returned a sheepish grin. “Since I’d already had my virgin skin surgically removed from my cock, I admit I might have been advertising my interest. It made sense to take my new manhood for a spin.”
“Uh-huh.”
His smile broadened. “What about you? I’ve given you all the sordid details of my first love affair, but you haven’t said anything about your first time. Despite not doing casual sex, you don’t act like a virgin.” The memory of her hand stroking him had him shifting the napkin over his lap.
“No,” she said quietly. “I was an early bloomer and impetuous for a Litting. My high school boyfriend and I bonded when we were barely juniors and lived together through most of college. We were each other’s first.”
“Bonded?”
She took a sip of her drink and cleared her throat. “Think common-law marriage. We weren’t old enough in the beginning to go for a license, and later I think we both realized we were growing apart.”
He instantly sobered. “I didn’t know.”
The thought of her sleeping with another man, living with him every day, awakened a possessive instinct Whitt hadn’t known he had. Beyond that, he didn’t like the sad, wistful tone in her voice.
“It’s all right,” she assured him. “The truth is the breakup went as smoothly as it possibly could have. We still stay in touch, but there’s always that little kernel of nostalgia and what-if hidden beneath the friendship. The two of us were just so young.”
Falling quiet, Whitt let the subject drop while he polished off the rest of his meal. When he was done and glanced back up, he discovered she was looking at him in a way that made his blood pressure drop—straight to his cock, that is.
“Take me back to your place,” she said. She seemed to read his mind.
“Really?” Not his smartest reply, but her request was so abrupt it caught him off guard.
She shrugged. “I work at a home décor store, remember? You can tell a lot about a person from their home, and so far you’ve never shown me your apartment.”
Oh. So she just wanted the tour? Except she wasn’t looking at him like she was imagining his furnishings. Usually he’d assume a woman who invited herself back to his place had one thing on her mind, but with Spri he was never quite sure. Although she’d certainly seemed to enjoy what they’d done together last time, maybe that one encounter was enough for her. Except she’d been just as flushed as he was after that weird connection at the meditation center.
“Maybe we could start with the bedroom,” she suggested, clarifying matters beautifully. “I was thinking we could keep figuring things out together.”
She didn’t have to say that twice. Raising his hand, Whitt signaled for the check.
*
Spri didn’t know whether or not she was doing the right thing, but she had no doubt that Whitt would make her feel good. After the way their passions had been stirred at the center, she had high hopes that they’d be a great match in a deeper, more spiritual way. If she could just be sure, she thought maybe she’d take the plunge and have sex with him. Of course, he’d need to understand exactly what that meant first. Fortunately, they still had time. For now, she’d push things as far as she could before crossing the point of no return.
“This is the living room.” Holding her hand, he dragged her into his apartment. “You crossed the foyer when you stepped over those three inches inside the door, and the kitchen is clearly visible to your left. Bedroom is this way.”
“Whitt!” She tried to slow him down, although she was laughing at his eagerness. “Let me get a look.”
All she caught at a glance was an eclectic, almost kitschy mix of retro and high-tech with a lot of saturated cool colors. He also decorated his walls with refurbished pieces he must have snagged off a salvaged space freighter—mostly engine parts, at that.